General Says the Current Plan Is to Maintain 120,000 Soldiers (thru 06)

[papau]

So the over $100 B drain for Iraq and Afghanistan this year will continue for long, long, time.


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/25/politics/25army.html

January 25, 2005
TROOP STRENGTH
General Says the Current Plan Is to Maintain 120,000 Soldiers in Iraq Through 2006
By ERIC SCHMITT

ASHINGTON, Jan. 24 - The Army's current plan is to keep about 120,000 soldiers in Iraq through 2006, roughly the same number that are fighting there now, a senior operations officer said Monday.<snip>

In a briefing for reporters, Lt. Gen. James J. Lovelace, the director of Army operations, said the projection is for the Army staff's planning purposes only. Actual troop levels follow the recommendations of combat commanders, based on the evolving security situation, and subject to approval by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld. But he said the plan represents the "most probable" level under current assumptions.

<snip>
Bush administration officials have repeatedly said they are counting on newly trained and equipped Iraqi forces to begin replacing American troops in securing the country, perhaps as early as this summer. That could allow the Pentagon eventually to start withdrawing the 150,000 troops who are there now - 120,000 Army soldiers and 30,000 from the Marine Corps, Air Force and Navy.

Because the Army is by far the biggest supplier of troops in Iraq of any of the armed services, the fact that its top operations officer is not planning for any troop reductions any time soon is yet another indicator of how the Iraqi training program is lagging woefully behind original Pentagon estimates. <snip>